


Returning the favour

by LandonRichardson



Category: Hawaii Five-0 (2010)
Genre: Danni is sassy even when sick, Even if it means putting up with her dog, F/M, I cant believe I'm putting this up, Protective Chin Ho Kelly, Protective Kono Kalakaua, Protective Steve McGarrett, Steve just wants to take care of her, female Danni Williams in place of male Danny Williams, got to love my niche, is this how this tag thing works
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-05-06
Updated: 2020-05-13
Packaged: 2021-03-02 18:01:50
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 2
Words: 6,831
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24041020
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/LandonRichardson/pseuds/LandonRichardson
Summary: It was no secret in Five-0 that Danni Williams was the Mama of the group, the one who always took care of them when they were sick but when Danni falls sick herself, it’s time for her team and her friends to step up to the plate and help her. (McDanni, featuring a female Danni in place of male Danny, standalone story)
Relationships: Steve McGarrett/Danny "Danno" Williams
Comments: 8
Kudos: 57





	1. Should you be here?

**Author's Note:**

> I can't really believe I am putting this up but as a good friend said, I should embrace the niche I love writing in so no more trying to hide it. In case anyone wonders the reason I write female Danni is to prove how easily Steve and Danny would have ended up together in a stable relationship if one of them, in this case Danni, was female!

Breathe in.

Breathe out.

Breathe in.

Breathe out.

Danni Williams eyes fluttered shut, focusing only on the feel of the cool leather of the steering wheel beneath the palm of her hands as she tried to ignore the feeling of nausea sweeping over her. She was far enough away from the crime scene in her current spot that no one would be able to see her even though they would easily be able to recognise the silver Camaro which she drove. That would give her time to gather herself together before she had to step out of the car.

She opened her eyes, twisting around slowly in her seat and looked out of the back window, focusing her attention on the crime scene as she wondered in passing just how she would manage to get through the upcoming day. A day which given the sheer number of CSU Agents working the scene and the fact that the Medical Examiner blue van was parked on the kerb indicated that it would be a long and tense one.

The minute she stepped beneath that fluttering yellow police tape they would converge on her, eager to give her initial reports while they were still fresh in their minds and while she normally welcomed their enthusiasm, today she was hoping they wouldn’t do it.

Her mouth quirked up slightly at her desire to stay hidden away in her car, a sure sign that she wasn’t herself since normally she would be our of the door before her partner Steve McGarrett who was normally with her, would even have finished parking the car, always eager to get on with the job at hand.

Danni would be the first to admit that there was always a part of her which resented having to get out of bed, she was someone who loved taking her time in the morning, who loved that period between sleep and awareness when her body felt weightless and her mind at peace before she eventually rolled out of bed for a shower, coffee and breakfast, not always in that order.

Today however she had woken up suddenly, feeling sick and achy, her limbs heavy enough that she had struggled getting out of her bed and every subsequent step she had taken as she had gone through her usual routine had taken all her energy to complete to the point that merely pulling on her clothes had almost sent her crawling back to her bed for a nap to recover.

Danni turned back around, leaning her head against the head rest as she pressed her hand lightly against her stomach as it rolled again. She had clearly caught the same bug which her daughter Grace had caught at school and which had laid the small girl down low since the end of the previous week. Danni had known deep down, even as she had taken care of the sick girl that she would catch it but there had still been that small part of her, the one which always tried to remain positive and look on the bright side, which had hoped that her immune system would be strong enough to fight it off.

Sitting in the quiet of her car, shivering lightly in the air conditioning blasting out from the heater, she could admit to herself that she should have called her partner Steve McGarrett that morning to tell him that she wasn’t going to be in that day and was instead taking the day off as sick but then the call for the latest case had come through to her via dispatch since they had been unable to reach Steve on his contact number which had left her having to tell them that she would head down to the crime scene herself.

She had no choice, the team was already stretched thin as it was since they were working on another case on top of this new one which meant that they needed all hands-on-desk, including Danni’s.

She simply didn’t have the time to be sick right now, maybe after the case she could speak to Steve about taking some time off but that was a conversation for a later date.

“Okay, come on Danni, you can do this the same way you’ve done a hundred times before. All you have to do is get out of the car and get to work.” She told herself out loud, wincing when she picked up on the huskiness to her own voice before she killed the engine finally.

She breathed out again, meeting the reflection her grey eyes in the mirror and gave herself a determined nod before she reached out and gripped the car handle, opening the door and allowing the hot humid air to rush into the interior. Danni stepped out slowly, gripping the top of the door hard as the world spun around her for a moment before it finally settled allowing her to slowly ease her grip as she focused yet again on her breathing.

She allowed herself another moment to be sure that the latest episode of dizziness had passed before taking a step away from the door and closing it behind her. She locked the car automatically, the habit from her days in New Jersey etched into her DNA, before she moved down the pavement on course to the crime scene. She forced a smile onto her face for the officer who raised the yellow police tape for her to slip underneath and reached automatically into the bag which she carried everywhere with her, retrieving a pair of small adhesive gloves out which she pulled on, her eyes looking around her as she wondered where she should start and where exactly the other members of her team were.

She had sent them a text message with the location of the latest scene and had expected, if she was being honest with herself, that Steve would have dispatched at least one of their team members out here to assist her but clearly that hadn’t happened, either because they were too busy or because none of them had looked at their phones yet to see her message.

Until they arrived, she would have to be the sole representative for Five-O.

“Hey Danni, good to see that one of you is finally here, we were beginning to wonder if Five-O was planning on turning up here or whether you were going to pass the case onto the HPD Detectives.” A familiar voice from the side of her stated, attracting her attention from her initial sweep of the scene.

“Morning Kale.” She replied with a smile at the tall man as he came to a stop next to her. “I’m sorry that I was late getting here, it’s been seriously one of those mornings. I’m guessing from your comment that that none of the others from my team have arrived here?” She queried hopefully, her heart sinking when he responded with a shake of his head at her. “Ah well, hopefully they’ll turn up soon to join me here.”

“Well this is going to turn into a big case from what I’ve seen so the sooner they do, the better it will be for us.” Kale confirmed as he crossed his arms over his chest.

“That’s all that we need at the moment.” Danni responded on a sigh, her mind already picturing the files which were already on her desk waiting for her to go through. “So, I’ve got to go and speak to the medical examiner but before I do can you give me a quick outline on what we’re actually dealing with here? Dispatch didn’t have many details when they called it in.”

“That’s not a problem.” He said with a nod. “From what I’ve gathered so far the case was called into 911 by the couple who are standing over there in the jogging outfit. I think their names were Gregory and Vivienne Abbott though don’t quote me on that. The uniforms who were first on the scene have been keeping them here, no doubt so they can make a statement to you guys. There’s only one victim but the ME can tell you all about it when you speak to her. I’ll get the updates from my team so they are ready for when you come back to me.” He told her. “The body is over there” He added, lifting his hand and pointing to the right of where they stood.

“Thanks, that would save some time if you could do that.” Danni remarked, giving him another smile before she turned and began walking in the direction which Kale had indicated.

“Out of interest what’s with the long-sleeved dress Danni-girl, is everything okay because I don’t know if you’ve noticed but it is hot out today.” Kale called after her suddenly causing her to glance over her shoulder at him, picking up, even over the distance, the concerned look on his face.

“Maybe I’m finally getting used to the heat.” She replied with a shrug before turning again and continued on her journey, trying to ignore the full body shiver which was threatening to come over her.

Danni came to a stop beside the dead body, noting absently that the victim was sprawled across the pavement in an inelegant manner before she looked at the familiar red head who was hunched down beside the victim, writing on a large pad of paper, no doubt making a list of her initial findings so she could use them later on when she was writing up her official report.

Rosie Lange was one of the new Medical Examiners who had just joined the Medical Examiner office on the insistent of the Governor of Hawaii who had come to the decision that they couldn’t continue to rely on only a small team of Medical Examiners to work for the state. Danni herself hadn’t minded the influx of additional staff, understanding where the Governor had been coming from, but there had been plenty of others on the force who had resented the change and were vocal about it, even though the change was in another department from their own which could only help them in the long run.

Danni had met Rosie on the other woman’s first day and the two of them had got on together like a house on fire. No doubt due in part to the fact that Rosie was only a year older than Danni was, was also female and therefore didn’t care that Danni was a female Detective on the Elite Five-O taskforce and also had originated from New York. All in all, it gave them a lot in common and a lot to talk about which Danni had been grateful for. As far as she was concerned the more friends, she could make on the island the better. 

“Good morning Rosie, what have we got today then?” She asked her friend, looking down at the body again, scanning it with a clinical look as she tried to see if there was a visible sign of death, noting the blood centered around the chest area, staining the man’s dark green t-shirt.

“You mean other than the fact we’re meeting over a dead body yet again?” Rosie replied, keeping her eyes on the page for a moment as she finished what she was writing before she looked up, a slight frown coming to her face when she focused on Danni. “You know don’t take this the wrong way or anything but you do not look good today, is everything okay with you?” She asked her, making no effort to hide the concern from her voice.

“Thanks” Danni said dryly before she sighed, reaching up with her hand and gripped the back of her neck, digging her fingertips into the tense muscles. “My daughter picked up that bug which had been going around the schools last week and I’ve managed to catch it while I was looking after her, the joys of being a mother but don’t worry I’ll make sure that I’ll keep my distance from you so you don’t catch it.” She promised, slight smile curling her mouth when she noticed Rosie’s wince of sympathy.

“Jesus that sucks Danni.” The tall woman said, giving her a pitying look before she straightened. “Well since you’re feeling ill let me do you a favour and tell you what I know about the body so far, that way you can just disappear quicker.”

“I appreciate that Rosie but take your time, I think we both know that the chances of me being able to actually go home any time soon is unlikely, especially as I’m the only member of Five-O here at the moment. Anyway, hit me with what you’ve got, what’s the cause of death? Gunshot wound to the chest?” Danni asked, her voice becoming professional as she crossed her arms over her chest, thankful when Rosie didn’t keep her waiting.

“Well it might interest you to know that the victim also appears to be someone who didn’t have the luxury of staying home when they were sick even when they should be. It could be that he has the same bug that you have, though you’ll be pleased to know that the bug wasn’t what killed him.” Rosie told her, grinning when Danni rolled her eyes in response. “What did kill him however was the two gunshots he received, one directly to the heart like you pointed out and the other to the side of the temple.”

“Two shots?” Danni responded in surprise. “Well, someone was clearly being through if they needed to take those two shots to ensure that he was dead.”

“That’s right, especially as both shots could have been a kill shot.” The red head stated. “Look at this.” She continued reaching down with a gloved hand, gripping his chin in her hand and titling his head to the side so she could see the wound which she had missed through her initial glance. “You see the gun residue on the skin, I hardly need to tell you that you can only get that particular pattern from having the gun pressed up right up against the skin, meaning whoever shot it was physically close to the victim.”

Danni nodded before she looked back at the older woman, raising one eyebrow in question.

“How do you know that he was sick when he died? I mean he looks remarkably healthy considering the fact he does have two bullet holes in him and already has that death pallor thing going on.” Danni stated, nodding her head towards him.

“Because he had a cough sweet in his hand when he was killed which he had been in the process of unwrapping from the look of it, he was probably doing it when he was killed.” Rosie commented, using her pen to point down to the man’s hand.

Danni breathed out, shaking her head as she lowered herself slowly and carefully to the ground, biting down on her lower lip when the ground proceeded to shift beneath her. She placed her handbag beside her and rested her palm against the ground to steady herself, noting as she did that Rosie had opened her mouth as though she had been about to say something before clearly thinking better of it before shaking her head. Danni glanced up at her.

“You mind if I take a look at the victim and see if he has anything on him that we can use?” She asked the other woman. 

“Like you even need to ask me that, you know you’re welcome Danni girl.” Rosie replied turning her attention back to her notes. Danni glanced back down as she reached out and moved the jacket, he was wearing so she could access the pockets, a quick search revealed a leather wallet which she pulled out and flipped open, looking through the various cards until she found the one she wanted. She took it out and held it against the victim’s face, comparing it to the photo on the driver’s licence before she smiled. “From the pleased look on your face I’m guessing you’ve found something?” Rosie queried attracting her attention.

“I did indeed, he happened to carry his driver’s licence around with him and looking at his face and the picture we have a visual match. Rosie, meet Alfie Meyer, a thirty-four-year-old male whose driver’s license places him living in Chicago, giving how he is dressed I would assume he is here in on vacation.” She stated, a shiver going through her which Rosie clearly picked up on.

“Okay seriously Danni where is the rest of your team right now because in all the admittedly short time I’ve been here and have worked cases with Five-O you have always had this oversized McGarrett shadow looming over you following your every move and the one time when you actually need him because you need to be in bed and not running a crime scene, he’s not here? Danni I can literally feel the heat rolling off of you from where I’m standing, if I had a thermometer which wasn’t designed to be used by stabbing into your liver then I would use it because you clearly have a temperature.” Rosie told her, looking over her head with a searching look.

“A temperature?” Danni repeated in surprise before she shook her head at her friend. “I hate to break it to you but I’m cold right now, possibly for the first time since I moved over here and besides even if I wanted to be in bed it’s not going to happen, not when we already have a case we’re looking at which was given to us by the Governor herself. So, until the others arrive here then get used to seeing my face because you’re stuck with me.”

“Fine, fine” Rosie said with a loud sigh which caused Danni to smile. “I’m well acquainted with that look in your eyes but I’m warning you now, as soon as shadow boy arrives here I’m going to tell him that it’s my medical opinion that you’re not fit for work and should be back home in bed and on top of that I’m going to tell him that you should be signed off work for at least a week to recover from this bug because you’re going to be weak as a new-born kitten once the fever breaks.” She warned her.

“Is there any chance you can give me a time of death for Mr Meyer or at least a rough ball park time for it.” She queried, bringing the topic back to work as she resumed her task of searching the victim’s pockets to make sure there was nothing there which she missed.

“Well if I go by the temperature which I took when I arrived earlier and by the way his body is going into rigor mortis, I would estimate he was killed between two and three this morning, which would make it about eight hours that he has been dead.” She informed her before she looked past Danni again, her face brightening slightly. “Well, will you look at that, it’s seems the rest of your team has finally arrived which means you can go home.” She told her.

“Lucky me” Danni murmured tiredly as she turned around just as Kono Kalakaua strolled up to them both, her dark eyes scanning the surrounding area before she looked down at Danni.

“Hey Danni, sorry it took us so long to get over to here, traffic was murder this morning for some reason, there must be an accident somewhere.” She apologised.

“Forget about it, you’re here now.” Danni responded with a wave of her hand. “What is happening with the corruption case we had? We can’t have close it already surely?”

“We were working on it when the FBI got involved and yanked the entire case away from us, Boss man put up a token argument about it but honestly the whole case was a proper mess so it was a relief they took it. It would have taken us weeks to go through everything and that was just the initial reports. The Governor was pissed that they did but there wasn’t much she could do when the order came down directly from Washington. So, what do we have here? Your text said it was a Homicide case?” Kono asked, her face changing as she took a look at Danni’s face closely for the first time. “You’re not looking too good Danni, are you ill? Should you be here if you are?” She demanded, sounding worried.

“Well hearing that makes me feel just great first thing on a Monday morning Kono.” Danni remarked dryly, placing her palm against her knee and came back up to her feet. She stumbled slightly as the world tilted again, forcing her to reach out and grip Kono’s shoulder in an effort to steady herself before she let go and straightened her back, ignoring the twin looks of concern which Kono and Rosie shot at her. “We’re definitely looking at a Homicide here, our victim was double tapped, once in the heart, once in the temple. Whoever it was who took him out wanted to make sure he was dead.” 

“Have we a name for him?” Kono asked, crossing her arms over her chest and making a small shuffling movement which brought her closer to Danni as though she wanted to be near enough that Danni could use her as a support again if she needed it, an action which Danni noticed and appreciated even though she ignored it and simply answered Kono’s question.

“Actually, we’re in luck there, the killer didn’t bother taking the guy’s driver’s licence with him so he probably wanted him to be identified easily.” Danni commented thoughtfully, indicating the driving licence which she still held in her hand. “Kono, this is Alfie Meyers from Chicago.”

“If he’s from Chicago then he must be a tourist then” Kono said as she pulled on the pair of adhesive gloves which Rosie had passed to her and took the driver’s licence from Danni.

“That’s what I thought as well” Danni agreed. “Rosie’s placed his time of death at around two to three this morning. That’s eight hours from him dying and the body being discovered though looking around us, it’s not a surprise it took so long. This place is secluded which then raises the question over why a tourist from Chicago would come here in the middle of the night. How did he know about this place and how exactly did he get here?”

“Something or someone must have lured him here.” Kono stared, lowering her hand. “Who found the body?”

“Kale said that it was the couple over there who found him while they were out jogging. He said their names were Gregory and Vivienne Abbott though I haven’t spoken to them yet. HPD have been keeping them here until we’re ready.” Danni said nodded towards the couple who were clearly getting antsy about waiting.

“They didn’t just find him, the guy actually took a tumble over the body.” Rosie piped up as she continued to write in her notebook.

“Well if that isn’t enough to put someone off of jogging for the rest of their life then I don’t know what else could do it.” Kono remarked with a grin, the sight of which caused Danni to smile in response before she looked away, her eyes searching for the rest of the team, noting that they were scouting the area, clearly getting a feel for the crime scene.

Her smile widened when she spotted Steve doing the same, her eyes lingering on his tall, familiar frame as he spoke to one of the uniformed officers who no doubt had been one of the first on scene.

“I’m just going to go and check in with Kale again to get his initial report, he mentioned earlier when I got here that there was something, he wanted to tell me. Rosie, I’ll speak to you later on today, Kono would you stay with her for the time being?” Danni ordered lightly as she reached out and gripped Kono’s slim shoulder, squeezing down on the muscle before she let go of it and moved away from her heading in the direction of where Kale stood with some of his team.

She was so intent on her task of simply placing one foot in front of the other that she failed to notice Steve’s gaze on her or the fact from his frown that he had clearly picked up on her unsteadiness and the fact that her usual fair skin was white even while her cheeks were rosy pink.

“Hey Kale, sorry to interrupt but I’m ready to hear what you have to tell me now if you’re free?” She called out to her friend who glanced towards her with a nod before excusing himself and moving towards her.

“Glad to hear it Danni-girl because I’ve got quite a lot of interesting facts to tell you about this case.” Kale replied, flashing her a grin before he began to talk, his hands moving through the air. 

She swallowed hard, focusing on his face to keep herself steady as she nodded at the right times, just one wish floating through her mind.

That this day was over already.


	2. Time to go home

Steve McGarrett crossed his arms as he moved slightly to the side to give himself a better view of his partner as she moved across the crime scene to where Kale Mead was standing with some of his fellow CSU Agents. He narrowed his eyes, noting that Danni’s usual graceful walk was missing, the movement instead slow and stilted as though she was struggling to even walk the short distance.

His gaze swept down her slim frame, a frown coming to his face when he noted that there was no physical sign of injury that he could see though he noted with a growing sense of concern that she was wearing a long-sleeved dress on a day which was especially warm and that her skin was pale to the point of whiteness with two splotches of red across her cheeks.

A long-sleeved dress was something which he knew for a fact that Danni would never wear in Hawaii, not when Steve was well aware that Danni still struggled regularly with the heat and humidity of the island.

Everything he saw pointed to there being something being wrong with her.

The question was what?

“Errr Commander? Is everything okay? You look distracted by something, if it’s something to do with the case then I’ll be happy to fill you in on anything you need to know.”

Steve blinked at the unfamiliar voice, turning back to the front, his eyes landing on the uniformed officer in front of him, a man whose name escaped him but he knew, without a shadow of a doubt, that if his partner had been beside him she would not only known what the man’s name was but everything about him up to what he had been doing over the weekend.

“It’s fine” Steve told him abruptly as he looked around him again, his eyes snagging on Rosie and Kono who he had noticed that Danni had been talking to, meaning that they would know what was wrong with the other woman. “Excuse me for a moment.” He stated, turning and moving away from the other man, his mouth quirking up slightly when he heard the man mumble something under his breathe, no doubt insulting him though that mattered little to Steve. It wasn’t as though the people who they worked with didn’t know that he was not a people person. That was Danni.

He moved across the area, keeping an eye on his partner from the corner of his eyes as he came to a stop beside Rosie and Kono.

“Boss” The younger woman said to him with a nod.

“McGarrett” Rosie stated at the same time before she continued. “I’ve already briefed Danni and Kono on the body but I can let you know as well if you want?” She offered with a raised eyebrow.

“No, if you’ve already told Danni and Kono then I don’t need to know.” He said with a shake of his head, falling quiet for a moment, aware as he did of the two women sharing a quick look at each other.

“Anything you need then or is this a social visit?” Rosie prompted finally.

“Not social but sort of personal.” He admitted. “I want to know whether you know was is wrong with Danni? She was just talking to you so I’m hoping she might have said something?” He asked, resisting the urge to indicate his partner in any way, knowing that she had a six sense when it came to knowing when anyone was talking about her, something which she always placed down to having mother hearing the few times Steve had brought it up with her.

He turned to look at the Rookie when the younger woman sighed at the question.

“What’s wrong with her is the small fact that she’s sick and at a crime scene. She mentioned last week that Grace had come down with a bug of some kind and Danni was the one who was looking after her during it so it’s no real surprise when you think about it that she caught it from her.” Kono told him, meeting his eyes briefly before she looked passed him, no doubt focusing her attention on the blonde.

“I was afraid that it was something like that when I saw her, what the hell is she doing here if she has the same thing that Gracie had? She should be at home resting not trying to work a damn crime scene.” Steve stated, picking up on the own sound of irritation in his voice as he wished, not for the first time, that his partner would at least try and take better care of herself instead of being focused on everyone else first.

“I can answer that for you, she felt that she didn’t have a choice because your team is spread thin and when dispatch couldn’t get through to you, they called her, she couldn’t exactly say no to coming down here even though I get the feeling that she wanted to.” Rosie commented with a shake of her head, smiling when Kono groaned at the comment.

“If Danni feels like she has to be here then getting her to go home to rest will be a nightmare, she’s so stubborn over things like this. If she starts a case then you know that she feels like it’s her duty to see it through until the end, regardless of how long it might take.” Kono said, reaching up and rubbing at her forehead tiredly.

“Well it’s a battle you’ll have to take on McGarrett because it’s my medical opinion that your stubborn partner needs to be at home, resting in bed and drinking lots of fluid because giving the amount of heat coming off of her already, the worse of that bug is going to hit her and it’s going to hit her shortly and it’s going to hit hard.” Rosie told them, a look in her eyes which told Steve that the other woman was serious.

“The last thing Danni will want is to be noticeably ill while at a crime scene, especially if it’s one where there are still Uniforms and CSU Agents who are working the case.” Kono added with a nod.

“There would be nothing which she would hate more than that.” Steve admitted knowing how important Danni’s reputation was to her, something which he put down to the way that Danni had been treated during the first six months she was on the island when she was still working in the Detective department in HPD. A place where they had treated her like dirt beneath their feet and had watched her, waiting for anything which they could use against her.

“That’s an understatement Boss” Kono confirmed in a sing song voice which brought a reluctant smile to his face before he sighed at the task ahead of him.

“Okay then, I’ll take your recommendation onboard then Lange” Steve said with a nod towards the Medical Examiner before he looked towards Kono. “Leave it with me, I’ll go and talk to her now and get her to see sense” He nodded at them before he turned and headed over to where Danni was still standing, nodding at whatever it was that Kale Mead was saying to her. He could see her small smile from the angle which he was approaching, the same smile which she always wore when she was in pain of some kind and didn’t want anyone else to know that she was. Another side effect from her time at HPD.

He came to a stop beside Danni and placed his hand against her lower back, frowning when he felt the heat rolling off of her like Rosie had mentioned earlier.

“Hey McGarrett, good to see you.” Kale said with a nod of him clearly noticing his approach.

“I’m sorry to interrupt you when you’re in the middle of briefing us but would you mind giving Chin the rest of the report, I just need to speak to my partner quickly.” Steve told the other man who looked briefly surprised by his request before he nodded, his eyes moving between them, no doubt wondering what was happening between them.

“Sure, that’s no problem, I’ll go and talk to him now. I’ll speak to you later on Danni.” Kono stated before he left them and moved towards where Chin was already standing with another CSU agent, both of them wearing serious expressions on their faces which Steve knew he would have to ask Chin about.

Steve waited until Kale was out of earshot before he turned back to Danni and looked at her, unsurprised to see that she had tilted her head back so she could watch him. She remained quiet, clearly waiting for him to explain why he had felt the need to interrupt her talk with Kale.

“You need to go home.” He stated firmly, continuing speaking without giving her the chance to react. “I know what you’re going to say Danno so don’t even say it” He told her, his voice soft as he absently stroked his thumb against the material of her dress “You know already that you shouldn’t be here and I know it as well so I don’t want to hear any arguments.” He stated, meeting her eyes, noting the slight flare of surprise.

“Steve, listen we’re…” She began to say in a husky voice, stopping when he spoke over her.

“No Danni, you listen to me okay? We’ve got the crime scene and the case here sorted. I know that you want to help and that you like seeing things through to end but we both know that right now you need to go back home and start resting up before the worse of the bug hits. You called me last week remember and told me all about Gracie’s symptoms so I know what is coming up for you with this and so do you. So, what I need you to do is to listen to your body which I bet is screaming at you to be at home rather than being out in the heat working this scene. The last thing I want is for you to collapse here which means that you’ll have to take more time off then you would want to. I haven’t exactly forgotten the lecture you gave me the last time I was ill and tried to come back earlier than I should have.” He commented, a smile coming to his face when he saw her suddenly smile at the memory before it melted away as she sighed.

“I did think that it was one of my better lectures which I gave you though I doubted that you paid much attention to it considering you tried to come back the next day as well.” She replied, rubbing her hand up and down her arm as though she was cold. “But I guess, maybe on this occasion, you might actually be right. I think it might be best for me to go home and rest like you said as long as you can spare me and don’t mind me going?”

Steve blinked in surprised, silenced for a second by the fact that Danni had agreed so easily to his request without the arguments which he had expected to come up against.

“I’m the one telling you to go home so I definitely don’t mind. I’ll speak to the various necessary people to let them know that you’re not to be contacted, that way you can rest without being interrupted by anyone.” He promised her.

She nodded at him, meeting his gaze for a moment before she looked away from him as she glanced around the scene again, he could see her eyes linger briefly on their colleagues before she looked back at him and gave him a soft, tired looking smile before she turned away from him and headed towards her car, her movement still as slow and unsteady as it was before.

He watched her making sure that she reached the car safely, fighting against the desire to follow her and insist on driving her home knowing that she would hate him bringing any attention to her state. The minute she was in the Camaro, he reached into his pocket and pulled out his cell phone, glancing down at the handset before he pressed down on the number five button. It rang for a couple of times before a familiar voice spoke over the line.

“Hey Boss man, what can I do for you?” Toast asked, his voice coming across as cheerful over the line indicating that he had no doubt had one of the brightly coloured smoothies which he insisted on having each day, claiming that it helped him work more productively. The sound of the kettle going in the background pointed to him being in the kitchen, probably making drinks for the rest of the team who had been left behind in the office to brief the FBI.

“Toast, I need you to do me a favour and speak to whoever it is that you need to speak to, to get Danni taken off of the call rota for the next forty-eight hours at least.” He told the younger man.

“Why would I need to do that?” Toast demanded instantly, an undercurrent of concern coming to his voice which Steve instantly picked up on. “Is Danni okay? Why would we need to take her off the rota? She never goes off of the rota due to being your second in command unless she’s on leave and we normally know about her leave months in advance.” He went onto say, his words rushing together making them hard to decipher.

“She’s on sick leave Toast, she’s caught that bug which has been going around which her daughter had last week. She’ll be fine though once she’s rested up.” Steve assured him.

“She’s sick and she was at the crime scene, why was she there?” Toast demanded, his voice rising.

“The call came through to her probably when I was speaking to the Governor so she felt that she had to come to the crime scene to run it until one of us made it here. I’ve sent her home now and she’ll remain there as far as I’m concerned for as long as she needs to, to get well again.” He replied.

“Okay then, so all we need to do is to make sure that Blondie remains home which isn’t exactly going to be easy to do.” Toast said, a thoughtful note coming to his voice as though his mind was already trying to figure out the best way to make that happen. “I’ll start by getting dispatch to take her off the contact rota and tell them that they aren’t to bother her and if they do then I’ll kick their ass myself.” He told him fiercely, the tone making Steve laugh.

“I’m sure that Danni will be grateful to know that you’re looking after her best interests. Thanks for doing that Toast.” He commented before he hung up the phone, his gaze flickering back to where Danni’s car had been packed, thankful to see that it was already gone.

He pushed the thought of her reluctantly to the back of her mind knowing that she would want him to focus his attention on the case and the crime scene.

Something which he knew would be easier said than done.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks for taking the time to read!

**Author's Note:**

> Thank you for reading!


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